Auckland's Santa Parade and NZ's largest cycling event are the latest activities to be disrupted by the Covid Delta outbreak. See how the day's Covid-19 news unfolded with RNZ's live blog.
The Christmas parade in Auckland has been cancelled for the first time in decades.
In a statement, organisers said Santa has been hit by Covid delays and can not arrive earlier than Christmas Eve.
Santa Parade chair Michael Barnett said the parade will be back bigger and better in 2022.
Meanwhile, New Zealand's largest cycling event, the BDO Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge, has been postponed because of ongoing uncertainty caused by Covid levels.
It will now run mid-February rather than its usual slot late November. In a statement, the organisers say the current situation is too uncertain to go ahead this year.
There were a record 102 new community cases reported in New Zealand today, including eight in Waikato.
One of the new Waikato cases reported today travelled to Hawke's Bay last Friday, but the Health Ministry says there is a low risk of infection.
At today's media conference, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said one of the Waikato cases undertook permitted travel to Hawke's Bay on Friday, before being confirmed as a positive case. They returned to Te Awamutu before testing positive and Dr Bloomfield confirmed there were no known positive cases in Hawke's Bay.
People in the Te Awamutu are being urged to get tested if they or anyone in their household has symptoms, or if they have travelled out of Te Awamutu over the past week for work or other activities.
See how the day's Covid-19 news unfolded with RNZ's live blog.